Finally A Cape, Da Ze!
by Azralan
Summary: Trapped inside a locker of hazardous waste, betrayed by her best friend. Taylor Hebert had it rough... until she woke up in the Eastern Wonderland. But seriously... Magic? As if that exists. Wait... what do you mean, it does? Rated T for language and violence. I claim no right to own the Cover Image, Worm or Touhou Project. CANCELLED
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

I woke up...

I woke up just to see a hardwood ceiling above me.

That's strange, the last thing I remembered was me being stuck inside my own locker, another vile prank by my once best friend. Her again... It was always her, she and her two best friends, Sophia and Madison. And of course the group of girls who followed them to stay popular. It just didn't matter _what_ I did, they always found a way to make my life miserable.

No matter who I tried to show that they were doing that horrible stuff, they wouldn't listen. Wouldn't take the word of a „loser" over the word of the almost-model, the their track-star and the girl who looked like she couldn't hurt a fly.

But that didn't really matter now, first I needed to find out where I was, make sure this wasn't just another vile prank.

Slowly I straightened my back and sat upright. I was about to look around when...

„Ah, you finally seem to be awake, ze!", came the voice of someone I had never seen before...

It was a girl. A girl with clothing that kind of resembled a maid-outfit. In black and white. On top of her head rested a stereotypical witch's hat. Wait... What?! Where was I?! A Cosplay festival or something? She seemed to be about my age. Blond hair tied into a braid which fell over her right shoulder, tied with a dark red bow. She seemed a bit brash but her golden eyes shone with hidden intelligence. Wait... Golden eyes? Contact lenses or something? In her hand she held a basket of... Were those mushrooms? She promptly put the basket on a small table standing by.

„You're probably wondering where you are right now, but don't worry, you're safe here, this is my home, ze!"

I looked around the room. Home was one word for it. It looked more like a storeroom, with so many seemingly random things lying around. Altough Taylor had to admit that the atmosphere was unbelievably cozy.

„Um... Thanks for providing some shelter, I guess... But how did I get here?", I was still a little confused about everything. I mean... How did I get from the locker to this place?

„Ah... Well... I found you in the forest, near my nice little abode here. You seemed to be in a pretty bad shape, but there were no real wounds so I was able to safely bring you here. I'm Marisa by the way. Kirisame Marisa, just an ordinary magician. At your service, da ze!", well... She was pretty straightforward.

„Magician? Is that some kind of joke? Is that why you wear that hat? Because you are cosplaying or something? Because magic just doesn't exist."

„WHAAAT? You've never heard of magic before? It's real, da ze!", she accentuated her point by waving her hand and creating a star shaped _thing_ of light or energy or something in it.

„Y-you're a cape? You don't just show someone your power... that can be dangerous!"

„Cape? What does an article of clothing have to do with magic?"

„You don't know what a cape is?! A parahuman?"

„Parahuman? Is that something like a youkai?"

„Y-youkai? What?"

„You know, like those hellravens, or those Tengu. You follow me?"

„S-sorry, I really don't know what you're talking about.", great, her host seemed to be of the insane type...

„Now, that just won't do, knowing nothing about what the other's saying! Collect your thoughts! I'll make us some tea and then we'll talk. You probably won't go anywhere with how it's snowing outside", and with that she went off, presumably to the kitchen, taking the basket filled to the brim with mushrooms with her.

A few hours later...

Wow... That had been a lot to take in. It appeared that I was stranded in some kind of magical wonderland. I still couldn't wrap my mind around it: Fairies, Zombies, Vampires, Demons, Goddesses...

And the girls sitting just a few feet away from me, apparently were a witch. A REAL WITCH!

How the hell did I even get here... The witch-girl, Marisa, suspected it was some woman, or youkai, named Yukari... when she heard that I did not come here willingly she immediately suspected said woman/youkai. I wondered if this Yukari did such things often, that would certainly explain the „Dammit, Yukari!" that seemed to be regularly spoken around here.

„Looks like you'll be spending quite some time here, ze!"... What?! Why couldn't I go back?! I knew this was some kind of trap.

„Why can't we just ask her to send me back?"

„The lazy hag's hibernating, ze! Started yesterday evening."

„Can't we just wake her?", _please let that be the case. I don't want to be stuck so far from home!_

„Not happening. Can't even reach her easily without her own help, da ze!", and just like that, my hopes of returning home were crushed. For now. „Sooo... Since you won't be returning home very soon, how 'bout I show you around, ze! Maybe teach you some Danmaku first, so you'll be a bit safer."

„Danmaku? What's that supposed to be?", I spoke out my thoughts. When I saw her starting to grin I knew that I really shouldn't have asked...


	2. Gensokyo 1

_**A/N: Here it is, the first real chapter. I, of course, claim no right to own Worm, nor do I own the Touhou Project. Forgot to mention that in the prologue. Anyways, please do comment and give constructive criticism. I can use it. After all, this is my first real story.**_

_**~enjoy!**_

_**Gensokyo 1.1**_

I fell into my makeshift bed at Marisa's house.

I felt horrible... Everything just _ached_. I was sore in places I didn't know existed.

It seemed that, while beautiful to look at, Danmaku just _hurt_. To fight against a pro at it hurt even more. While Marisa said I had talent, I don't think I'll look at stars ever the same again.

Several weeks had passed since I stranded here, and that Witch did her best to make sure every second was used. First lesson she taught me was dodging, one of the three core elements of Danmaku, along with producing bullets and organizing them in a pattern _while_ dodging.

We'd started with having her shoot small projectiles at me while I'd have to dodge. While they didn't injure me -much- they hurt and I made sure to push myself so I would not get hit again not get hit again. That was basically the first week, along with exercises for my flexibility and stamina.

It was just exhausting, but the next step made it a bit easier... at first. Flying. She had really taught me how to fly, and it hadn't even been that hard. Being able to properly move in three directions instead of just staying on the ground was liberating. The sensations that came with being able to fly were truly incredible... Even if I needed a stupid stick of wood for it. Screw you Marisa, you stereotypical witch.

Even though I had to use a broom, it still was another kind of awesome in it's own right. Altough flies being squashed on your shirt because of the speed the broom flew at wasn't that cool. I wondered how flying capes deal with that.

Well, anyways. It was awesome and made dodging easier... at first. Turned out that me being able to dodge in more directions just gave Marisa a reason to spam me with even more bullets, weaving more complex patterns. And once I'd found out her style she just used some different „spell card", I think they were called, which stored another pattern.

Once she even set me up against her „neighbour"... not really neighbour because the other girl, Alice, wasn't exactly living close by.

Alice was a doll user, as it turned out. Shooting lasers... what was that with all the lasers?!

But she was nice, I guess. I also found out that Danmaku battles usually end with Tea being served, something about maintaining a friendship even if they fought just a few minutes before.

The good news was that I would soon get away from only dodging all the time and finally be taught how to actually produce bullets. But for now I'd just rest in .. my... comfort-... snore

The next day

I woke up to the sun shining in my face and the sounds of birds singing. A relaxing scene, truly.

I was sure that scene wouldn't last long... Three... Two... One... Crash

„G'morning Tays! Breakfast is ready! Hope you're okay with mushroom bread and tea, it's the best I've managed to make in a while, da ze!"

I looked at the blonde who just disturbed my inner peace after waking up. Mercilessly I might add. Seeing her honest-to-god grin made that anger at her intrusion evaporate like hot water. I just couldn't bring myself to be angry at her for long, her attitude didn't help much in keeping me angry.

„I'm coming, alright. I'll be down in five minutes.", that seemed to satisfy her and she promptly made her way downstairs.

Walking down said stairs a few minutes later, my mouth already began to water. My stay here had really changed many of my habits, my appetite being one of those. My humour another one. My habits generally shifted to be more similar to Marisas. I guess that if you spent every waking hour with one person and one person only, sharing stories, training, travelling and fighting together, you became rather similar. And since I really didn't have that much of a dominant personality, I practically absorbed hers.

Breakfast was good, and after we had eaten, we readied ourselves and went outside. As we came to a halt just before Marisas house said girl promptly turned around and clapped her hands.

„Alright! We're now officially trough with the dodging lessons.", she told me with a smile, much to my relief: „And that means we can finally start the really exhausting part, ze! For now you'll be learning how to form those bullets. After your warm-up. Now, what are ya waiting for! Get going, da ze!"

I began my stretches and standard... I guess you could say katas. I'm not sure if Danmaku could officially be called a martial art, but it sure was pretty similar.

Half an hour later I was satisfied with my progress and began to walk over to where Marisa was writing some kind of magic circle on a blackboard she got from somewhere, she probably 'borrowed' it.

„Now, from today on you'll have the honour to be my student in the arts of magic, da ze! I'll be teaching you pretty much everything as long as you're able to keep up.", she said proudly with a wink of her eyes at the last statement: „But before we can delve deep into actual magic or Danmaku we need you to be able to summon your energy...", and just like that she began rattling of explanations I could barely follow. I had the feeling this was going to be a long day...

**Several weeks later**

„... And now that we've cleared all misunderstandings about the conservation of energy and principle of Danmaku we're finally gonna move on to the funny stuff, ze!", Marisa said in her 'teacher's voice'.

We spent the last weeks talking about working through spiritual energy, basic magic principles, basic summoning and a little bit of alchemy. The good thing about being worked to near death every day was that you got pretty strong and confident in your abilities. After all, you did practice them almost non-stop.

We were finally going to begin with advanced magic, and as a part of it, Spellcards! We had already worked through the theory of Danmaku battles several times, the rules weren't that hard to memorize either. Now that I knew something about it, magic was actually pretty darn interesting. All the possibilities and variables... It really reminded me of computer classes with Mrs Knott, the ones I liked so much back in Winslow... Oh god... I'm sounding like I miss that place!

„Now, the core principles! Shoot as many bullets as you can! Leave your enemy space to dodge, no unfair projectiles! And the most important of them all... create awesome looking patterns, da ze!", while naming the last 'principle' Marisa started grinning: „Now I'll demonstrate one and you'll show me what one of your own moves, ze! If the pattern feels right to you it should manifest as a spell card.", then she added as an afterthought: „ Oh, but don't worry if you're not able to produce spellcards on your first few tries... Everybody has their own specific style, and not everybody finds theirs easily."

She flew upwards on her broom. Coming to a half 50 meters above the ground, she took out a small card. I even recognized the picture on it, it was her trademark spell (cough...she actually 'borrowed'...cough).

„LOVE SIGN: MASTER SPARK"

...BOOOOOOOM... And off went the rainbow of doom.

„Now, your turn, da ze!"

I, too, flew upwards. Though about a pattern i'd like to use... I couldn't think of any pattern. Met with my failure at that I tried a different approach. I simply let my magic go rampant. But somehow, I managed to get it into an organized pattern. It was flowing in a harmonic design almost by itself...

I opened my eyes again... Only for them to be met with bright stars swirling around me in a dazzling pattern... hm.. I think I've seen this one before...

„HEY! STOP STEALING MY SPELLCARDS, DA ZE!", I just couldn't resist responding to that...

„Don't worry Marisa!", I assured her with a smile: „ I'm just borrowing it! You'll get it back... eventually." That's that!

„T-that's- wha- uh-", Marisa muttered while blushing, pulling her witch's hat over her face... Actually blushing! Man, I got her good.

A bit later we were discussing what had happened.

„So... Why did you use my spell card again?"

„I don't really know... I couldn't think of a pattern... So I just decided to let my magic flow. Organize itself. Sorry if I stole something from you.", I replied while looking down.

„Nah, that's alright... I was just surprised, really.", after a second of thought she added: „I found out about my magic-style the same way. Maybe we do actually have the same one! Imagine what we could do with that, da ze!", as she told me this laughter began to slowly subside and her face formed a very vulpine grin while her eyes sparkled mischievously... Oh no. What have I done!?


	3. Gensokyo 2

_**Gensokyo 1.2**_

**One month later**

„Alright, now that you're experienced enough to actually have a chance to win a fight with that baka-fairy we'll be making some trips in the time to come. Can't have the others think I'm dead, ze!", my 'Master' said cheerfully.

After the discovery that my magic was very much like hers we grew even closer and I noticed even more changes. For one, I really had to suppress the urge to add 'ze' to my sentences, sometimes I slipped up, much to Marisas amusement.

We dressed in our winter clothes and stepped outside. Just as we were getting ready to depart, I had an idea: „Hey, Marisa, don't you have a thermos flask or something so we can take some warm tea with us?"

„Thermos flask? And you say it's able to keep tea warm? Is that an Item from the outside world? In that case Kourin might have one at his shop! Let's go there first, ze!", I agreed and thus we made our way to this Kourin guy.

Our journey there was surprisingly peaceful. After what Marisa put me through I just assumed there would be dangers everywhere. Bloodthirsty fairies, annoying werewolves... Wait, I think I accidently switched the adjectives there.

Halfway to this Kourindou place, it started snowing again... I really couldn't wait for that flask

The bell above the door rung as we entered the shop. I looked around, leaning my broom against the wall next to the door frame like Marisa had done. Good thing my broom had a blue binding the straw at the end together, else one could easily mistake mine for Marisas. As we ventured a bit deeper into the shop, a white-haired man behind the counter perked up. He wore a pair of oval glasses and seemed to have a bag strapped to in front of his stomach. Then it hit me... This was the first male I've encountered since I ended up here almost 4 months ago! Already 4 months... and it was still cold winter... that somehow doesn't seem right.

„Ah, you're actually still alive. And who's your friend over there!", the man asked with a friendly smile. He was actually reasonably attractive looking.

„Ah, that's my friend Taylor. She kinda just showed up on my doorstep. I've been training her in Danmaku, ze!", the blonde before me informed him with an especially wide grin.

„You have? I didn't think of you as the teaching kind...", he turned to me: „And what is that with you just showing up on her doorstep? Her house is in the middle of the Forest of Magic."

He looked at me skeptically.

„Well, I'm kind of stranded in this world, you see.. I'm just waiting for this Yukari to send me back if she can."

„Ah, alright then. So, what brings you two to Kourindou?"

„We are looking for a thermos flask, da ze!",the black-white witch replied: „You wouldn't happen to have one, would you?" She winked at him with one eye.

„Ah... I suppose I might have one. Come and have a look, I'll show you the flask-like things I have here.", he went ahead expecting us to follow him. We did.

„There! That's one, ze!", I shouted out. Wait... did I just... Oh.

„'ze'? You too? What happened in those last weeks? Don't tell me you're trying to spawn evil clones of yourself or something, Marisa."

„Ah, no... I guess me and Tays must've spent a little too much time together, ze!", my cute witch friend answered for me. Wait... where did that cute come from?

„Okaaaay... I'm just going to ignore that. Sill, you better not be trying to start an incident or something. Anyways, so this one is a thermos flask? You can have it for free. I don't think you have anything to pay with, and if I'd say you can't have it you'd just... 'borrow' it anyways."

We made some small talk for a while and then said our goodbyes to Kourin, or Rinnosuke how I now knew him as.

With that we took our brooms and flew off to get some tea before we would be departing for real.

Once we had filled our new prize with the tea we so desperately needed in this cold. After we departed Marisa told me we would visit her friend, the shrine maiden of the Hakurei line, the one who guards the Hakurei barrier.

On our way to said shrine we encountered Alice, who apparently just came back from the Human Village. We talked for a while and promptly told her of the wonders a thermos flask could do for you in the cold, cold winter. After that Alice thought about getting one for herself.

We flew over the forest, the trees below us had long since blurred into a green and white mass. The sky had cleared itself after the earlier snow and the sun shone in our faces as we rode our the distance, I could see a place that was most likely the Hakurei shrine get bigger the nearer we got. On a side note, Marisa had found a way to cure my nearsightedness with magic, one of the best presents I've ever received. Once we had a clear view of the shrine grounds, we were slowly decreasing our altitude until we landed in the yard before the shrine.

„REEEIIIMMUUUU! I'M STILL ALIVE AND I'VE COME TO VISIT YOU!", Marisa immediately went for the door, taking of her shoes before she went in.

I followed shortly after her, putting my shoes next to hers, before peeking inside.

There she was, the maiden of the hakurei shrine, wearing a red and white miko dress that left her armpits bare... so... it really was more a variation of a mikos clothing.

„Wow, Marisa... you're actually still alive. It really isn't like you to be missing for so long. It's been what, 3 months?", the miko asked.

„Four actually. Hello miss Hakurei, my name's Taylor Hebert. I guess you could say that I'm currently Marisa's student."

„That's right, ze! And a talented one at that!", I blushed at the compliment: „She kinda just showed up on my doorstep, completely lost. She isn't from Gensokyou."

„Ah, alright.", Reimu was smiling now: „Do make yourself comfortable, I'll be back with some more tea shortly."

„HAH! There's no need for that, ze! We brought our own!", the witch proclaimed enthusiastically: „Beware the wonders of the thermos flask!", Marisa continued whle striking a dramatic pose, the flask held high up in the air on her open palm.

„Wouldn't that be cold by now?", the miko said in a deadpan tone.

„Ts, ts, ts. And that's exactly where you're wrong!", Marisa countered with a mocking shake of her pointer finger: „The magical item called thermos flask will keep any tea warm, even in the coldest and snowiest nights, until the day is over, da ze!"

„Actually, it's pretty much just like winter clothing for your tea, nothing magical about it...", I deadpanned.

„Taaaayys, why do you have to be such a spoilsport... I wanted her to maybe buy one too.", my 'master' replied in a whiny tone rubbing nonexistent tears from under her eyes.

Some time later we were sitting around the kotatsu in the main room of the shrine and told Reimu what we were up to those last weeks. The warmth was incredibly comforting and the tea was delicious. Of course we didn't tell her that me and Marisa had pretty much the same Magic-style, that would have to wait until we got into a tag team fight or something. The look on their faces would be truly hilarious... or terrified, if we showed them our quadruple-spark. Yes, that will be awesome.

„So, yeah, now we're just goin' around to make sure nobody forgot me. Our next stop, tomorrow, will be the SDM. We'll drink some tea with the little vampire and brag about our thermos flask. Maybe Sakuya will buy one, too."

„Makes sense so far. I wonder how Remilia will react once she meets Taylor. Taylor, you're from the outside world, right?"

„I don't think I'm from the outside world you mean, it seems that I'm from an alternate version of your outside world. Although I don't think we have an Gensokyou on Earth Bet. If we did, they would've probably left it already to look at the outside world. Youkai powers aren't really strange for us anymore. There are actually many humans with powers in my world. I actually wanted to be one of those someday, one of the heroes, and work for the protectorate and against the supervillains. That dream isn't really likely to come true. After The Locker I pretty much lost faith in authorities.", I replied, becoming quieter towards the end.

„The 'Locker'?", Marisa had already become very quiet as Reimu spoke up, curious about the subject. I noticed that Marisa avoided eye-contact.

„Yes, The Locker. The pinnacle of betrayal from my once best friend, and the climax of an almost two-year bullying campaign. They showed me into a locker, a metal box we use to keep our things secure, especially in school, which they filled with used hygiene products. The locker's contents were already rotting when I returned after the break and they shoved me straight in. After a few hours or so I blacked out only to awaken later in Marisa's living room.", I replied, already starting to sink into depression: „The whole thing was done by my former best friend, Emma Barnes, and her new friends Sophia Hess and Madison Clement. They bullied me for one and a half years before that. Nobody helped. Nobody wanted to take my word over the words of the three miss popular's. After all, I was just some ugly loser girl while Emma was already in the modeling scene, Sophia the resident track-star and Madison looked too innocent to even be suspected of anything.", my audience had become deadly quiet during my speech. I took a deep breath and continued: „'Not enough evidence', they said. And Emma's lawyer father didn't help matters much."

…

…

…

Reimu was the first to break the silence: „Damn... if the Yama would hear that, Hell would be loose."

„I thought so to... ze.", my Witch-friend replied.

„Wow... That was so sad I think I've sobered up.", a voice from behind me declared.

I looked behind me to find a girl with horns, probably the Oni Marisa told me about, with a gourd in her hands. She stared at me with a mostly expressionless face.

„You want some sake to forget those memories?", she offered.

After a brief delay, I replied with a „no, some things are better remembered, even if they hurt".

After a while the red-white Miko broke the ice that had formed again with a shout from where she was currently looking for snacks. The shout was directed at the oni I was introduced to just before: „SUIKA! Did you eat all the biscuits again?! Damn freeloader."

„Can't help it... They go well together with the sake...", the oni muttered.

Marisa laughed.

_**A/N: Soo... here it is. The Second/Third chapter of this story. It's still in it's early stages, but I hope it is alright so far. I've also been working on a smaller story, this time a Worm+Toaru Majutsu no Index Crossover. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this story so far.**_

_**Have a wonderful day...**_

_**-Azralan**_

_**PS: Does anybody know how to make full stops in the chapter title? I'd like to make use of them. Thanks.**_


	4. Gensokyo 3

_**Gensokyo 1.3**_

**The next day**

Marisa and I found us flying towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion, or SDM for short. It was the home of an asthmatic Majin, a time-stopping maid, a lazy gate guard, the owner of the mansion, which was a charismatic vampire girl, and the owners psychopathic little sister. Or so Marisa told me. A lovely cast, anyways.

When we flew over a large lake Marisa called out: „Now, look down to see the Misty Lake, the home of the greatest Baka-fairy in Gensokyou, Cirno, da ze! Don't listen to her when she says she's the strongest. The strongest fairy maybe... but really nothing else."

I looked down onto the surface of the Misty Lake, seeing a blue-haired girl with icycle-wings flying over it, seemingly holding a... frozen frog? We continued.

**…**

Then I saw it. The Mansion. Easily capital 'M'. A giant clock tower in the middle, a huge garden. Said garden made me wonder who had the patience to tend to it.

When we arrived at the gates, there was a red-haired woman dressed in a green Chinese outfit with a beret resting atop her head dozing off on a chair. Say what you want about sleeping at work, but that woman sure was a beauty, if an inefficient guard.

„Should we wake her?", I inquired.

„Nah, it's more fun to watch Sakuya deal with her slacking off again later.", the witch replied with a devious grin: „Oh, I bet they missed me, ze! But really, if you meet a blonde vampire girl with crystal wings and she wants to play, run.", her tone was serious while she conveyed me that message, and if I learned one thing while staying with Marisa, it was that if the black-white herself got serious, the situation _was _serious. So in response I just nodded.

We arrived at the main gates and Marisa knocked, although I think the Mansion is too big for the knocking to be heard. Surprisingly, the Door was opened.

Standing on the other side of the doorstep, was a stern looking, white-haired woman dressed in a maid-uniform, Izayoi Sakura, who was the chief-maid of the Mansion.

„Oh, miss Marisa. Knocking like a normal person, I see.", Sakuya stepped aside and continued on, probably towards where her mistress was: „It almost got boring, without your constant raids for Miss Patchouli's books."

„Ah well, I missed that, too. But don't worry, it won't be boring for so long again. Now I've got a student, da ze!", Marisa's face started forming her usual grin. I decided to play along a bit.

„Yeah, master taught me many useful things, da ze!", Sakuya immediately stopped dead in her tracks. Nobody moved as my words echoed through the Mansion. I swore that I could hear some books falling in the distance, and somewhere else ahead of us, tea was spilled out. Marisa's grin got bigger.

Finally, Sakuya composed herself: „I... see. Now, if you would please follow me so I can show you the way to mistress Remilia.", Sakuya now took bigger strides.

I guess now mine and Marisa's grins were matching. We almost high-fived.

**…**

The owner of the Mansion was... Underwhelming. When you think of a vampire, especially a self-proclaimed descendant of Dracula himself, you think of a towering gentleman with black or white hair and a long cape, or of a seductive beauty in an elegant dress that has all the right curves in the right places. Remilia Scarlet... was not really one of these. She had the presence of a dangerous vampire and was incredibly charismatic, yes, but her appearance wasn't really that of a fearsome vampire. Especially when we entered the dining room, Remilia just looked rather decomposed, as if imagining something horrible.

A short while after, Sakuya had served us tea and Remilia had composed herself again.

„So, you're a new addition to Gensokyou, right? Taylor Hebert, I presume you are from an English country, most likely the United States, yes? The last time I've been there was during it's colonization, rather filthy, I must admit. But please, tell me about yourself.", the vampire spoke.

„Well, you know my name. I'm from Brockton bay in New England in the USA, although most likely not the US you know of. It seems that I am from some kind of alternate earth.", I managed to say, thankfully without stuttering.

„Oh, most interesting. Please, do tell me about this alternate Earth you live on."

„Well, for one there was an event, about thirty-something years ago. A 'golden man' with superpowers emerged, Scion, and went on to be a superhero. After he had arrived, many people across the world began to develop these kind of powers, too. We call those people Capes. Most use these gifts for doing what they please, although there are organizations that bring order to society with the help of superpowered individuals, like the Protectorate. After a while, the first Endbringer attacked. Superpowered monsters out for destruction. Behemoth, able to control heat, radiation, and so on. Leviathan, able to call upon the powers of the ocean, using these to sink Island and parts of continents. The Simurgh, the most fearsome of them. A powerful psychic and the only true telepath in my world. She is able to mark her victims and turn them into sleeper agents she subtly controls. They attack every three months or so.", I summed up the recent history of my world for our host.

„Very intriguing, indeed. And what do you think of those capes? I assume you want to be one yourself, don't you?"

„I did. I wanted to be a hero and do good with my powers, like the Triumvirate, the greatest heroes, after Scion of course. But when my best friend betrayed me, tortured me and nobody would listen I think I lost every bit of trust in authorities. And honestly? I don't think I need superpowers after everything Marisa taught me."

The Scarlet Devil turned to my mentor: „So you _are_ her teacher? What is your reason?"

„That's right, ze! And no reason, really. I just wanted her to be good enough to keep herself safe, here in Gensokyou. Then I made an interesting discovery that persuaded me to continue."

„And that reason is?"

„I'm not tellin' you, da ze.", Marisa answered with a taunting grin.

That kinda seemed to break Remilia's composure and charisma. She almost looked like she'd throw a temper tantrum until she regained control of herself.

„But you'll show me, of course. And not only me. Most of Gensokyou will find out. Soon."

„That's right, da ze!", Marisa and I grinned.

„Well, now that we're already here, and without breaking in, let's go to the library borrow some books, ze!", Marisa rushed out of the room. I looked at her retreating. Then I turned to Remilia.

„When she says borrowing she means stealing, right?"

„...Yes. And I don't even know if she herself believes it's just borrowing. Although 'they get it back when I die' certainly applies in Gensokyou.", she answered over her intertwined fingers.

„Well, anyways, thank you for the tea and for being such a nice host. I hope to visit again.", I stated with a smile: „Alright then... I'm just going to follow her before I get lost"

„...You do that. And farewell."

**...**

Later, when we were home again, I mentally celebrated. We were able to borrow some books from the library that would help us with our studies. Maybe we'll be able to piece together a way to create a better spark or some other move.

After my celebration I went into the kitchen to help prepare dinner, after which we'd be working on our projects. I was happy. I'd finally found my place, where I could help and joke around and play and just enjoy my life. I don't think I could have stranded in a better place.

Sure, I originally _did_ want to be a cape, a hero, but capes only had their one power-package. _I had MAGIC, DA ZE!_ … I did it again, didn't I. Well, whatever. As long as it made me happy.

But I did miss dad. He was probably worried sick or just assumed I died or ran away. And once he found out about bullies, he'd probably blame himself. Poor dad. But that was the reason why I _needed_ to go back.

Well, I couldn't go back without Yukari.

We ate at a small low-table in Marisas stora-... living room. The fire was crackling next to us and it was comfortably warm.

„So, what did ya' think about the vampire? Got quite te presence, eh?"

„Well, I really didn't expect her to have the body of a child, ze.", as soon as I realized what words left my mouth, I blushed and pulled my hands in front of my mouth. Marisa laughed.

„HA, looks like I'm rubbing of on you, da ze! You blushing like that looks cute, 'tough.", Marisa grinned while her eyes twinkled in the light emitted from the fire.

„I-... I do not...", I pouted. Trying to get back to eating.

„Whatever, Tays. Hey, maybe we should visit the Sanzu river tomorrow. Winter isn't really the best season, but I'm sure it still looks wonderful. And maybe we can talk to the Yama. She might have ideas how you should handle the situation in you world. Might even be able to send you back."

„Already back... but i've grown to like this place.", I frowned a little. I really didn't want to go back already. And somehow I felt like I just betrayed my dad.

_**A/N: So, 1.3 is out. Thank you very much for any comments/etc. so far. I hope Remilia and Sakuya weren't too OOC. Th nest chapter might take a few days to release since I like to have one in reserve and am still writing on 1.4, although it is almost finished. Thank you for reading.**_

_**-Azralan**_


	5. Gensokyo 4

_**Gensokyo 1.4**_

The next day was spent with research and training. We needed to stay sharp... And we had some new tricks to practice. A new tag-team move.

„Alright Tays. You ready, ze?"

„Of course. I'm going to start now.", and with that I summoned the magical sigil that was required for this move beneath me. A typical hexagon-like structure with glyphs attuned to the winds around it. It's middle was occupied by a large, fingerprint-like swirl. The whole sigil glowed with a soft pink.

„3... 2... 1.." **Bazooonk**

I found myself next to Marisa. We held our arms out in front of us. Me left, her right, with my right and her left arm crossed. We spoke in unison.

„**LOVE SIGN:**_** QUADRUPLE-SPARK"**_

The following could only be described a Total Annihilation. The four lasers spiraled around each other, amplifying each one's piercing power, and devastated everything in their way.

Good thing we tested this in a safe place that was already destroyed. Some old ruins just outside the Forest of Magic.

„Wow...", I broke the silence: „That was undoubtedly awesome, ze!"... DANG IT! I just can't help it. I sound like Marisa when I get excited. But... If I think about that might not be too bad. She kinda evolved into an idol for me anyway.

„YEAH! LET'S DO A BIGGER ONE, DA ZE!"

And with that we got to work.

**Three Weeks Later**

Again, we stood outside, before the ruins we crated three weeks ago. Now we were going to destroy even more. With bigger, flashier, faster and more destructive lasers.

„Ready, da ze?", my mentor asked.

„Of course. Let's do it!"

We started our chanting. Long syllables and mystic words. Ten seconds later, a gargantuan sigil appeared before us. We continued our chanting, pushing energy into the sigil before us. As the sigil was shining brighter and brighter, several smaller ones spawned besides it. Yep, this was going to be destructive.

Our chanting stopped after two minutes total, and a deep humming sound could be heard.

„Ready?", I asked.

„Yes.", I got my answer.

In unison we spoke:

„THREE"

„TWO"

„ONE"

„**MAGIC SIGN:**_**SPARK BARRAGE, DA ZE!"**_

…

…

…

...Nothing happened. The sigils seemed to flicker.

Marisa spoke first: „Well... That's kind of a disappointment, after all the-"

**BAAAAATTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM**

The sigils fired all at once. Marisa and I only stared at the display, slack-jawed. Soon, the smaller sigils started rotating around the main one, spreading their lasers in several directions, greatly increasing the area. That's when it really started. Thousands, no, _millions_ of star-shaped bullets swirled out of the area the rotation smaller sigil's sparks just left, like an afterimage. The main laser started giving off energy like shots, still connected to the sigile by and aftertrail. All in all, everything flashed in the colours of the rainbow.

Damn. This just _had_ to be enough to kill an Endbringer.

The spell stopped after a while. Everything near the impacts was vaporized. You could probably create another Misty Lake in those craters.

„Well... Looks like I spoke too soon, da ze!", Marisa just grinned.

**That Evening**

„Hey, remember how I said we should visit that Yama, ze?"

I turned to my mentor and responded: „Yea, what about it?"

„I think we should do it tomorrow. Could be interesting, ze!"

„Yeah, we probably should...", I was thoughtful for a moment. Then I deadpanned: „But please... _After_ we deal with those fairies!", I inclined my head towards the angry horde that followed us because we interrupted their little evening dance.

„Yeah...", Marisa looked at me sheepishly: „Ignoring them just makes them try harder.", she started to grin maliciously: „So lets squash their hopes of catching us...", she took out her hakkero: „After all, they'll reform after some time. So no reason to hold back.", she turned around, pointing the hakkero at the fairies who were pursuing us with both hands: _**„**_**LOVE SIGN:**_** MASTER SPARK, DA ZE!"**_

Her shout startled the fairies. The look of terror on their faces was understandable as certain 'death' came right at them. Marisa just laughed, 'though not in an _overly_ evil way, as the beam disintegrated the fairies while she used it's recoil to propel herself forwards.

„Come on, Tays! Amp up the speed or you'll never catch me, ze!"

I inwardly sighed. Well... If everybody here in Gensokyo was so careless, why not be part of it. With that line of reasoning in mind, I accepted her challenge: „Alright, whoever's last home has to make dinner, da ze!" And like that I reached top speeds.

_**A/N: So, just a little training „montage" in this chapter, not really satisfied with it so I might edit it. The next chapter will be an interlude. It'll most likely be out on Sunday. Have a great week.**_

_**-Azralan**_


	6. Gensokyo Interlude

_**Gensokyo 1.x**_

_**Interlude: Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu**_

„Next."

Another day completely devoted to judging the dead... although I'm always so enthusiastic to Komachi about working, doing the same thing for people who almost all lived the same live is tiring.

For the next person I looked into my mirror again. Hm... A farmer who died due to being attacked by a youkai. His attacker mauled his skin with its claws, not very pretty.

He lived a simple live, got a wife when he was 17, hard-working and following the rules.

„Heaven", I decided.

„Next.", the assistant at the door to the courtroom called out.

The next case was a monk... who was knocked over by a laughing black-white witch riding on a broom. Ah, I know her.

„Ah, please excuse us. My... companion can be a little inconsiderate sometimes.", that girl I didn't know. She was taller than most people, easily as tall as Komachi, but she was lanky, she barely had a 'figure' worth speaking of. Her hair was probably her only really feminine feature... and she was riding on a broom, too.

„Yo, we're here to talk, ze! We might have an interesting case for you.", the black-white stated with a grin.

An interesting case, huh. „Well, that still doesn't excuse you barging in like that.", I looked at her sternly: „That, and I was almost finished judging the waiting souls." Really, how could they just interrupt important procedures like that.

„Ah, not really. See, there's a truly gargantuan amount of souls waiting on the other side of the river while that shinigami doses off.", the witches' companion tells me.

...Komachi. When I get my hands on you for slacking off again... I gripped my Rod of Remorse with enough strength to whiten my knuckles. She was gonna get it this time. If one hour of lecture isn't enough, I'll make sure the next one takes up more time.

„And you're here to talk about what exactly?"

„WHOA! No lecture for us, da ze?!", the witch looked honestly surprised... were my lectures really that infamous? Well, I can't let them get away scot free either.

„Don't worry, you're gonna get it when you're here as souls.", the witch paled slightly, her grin freezing in place.

„But if you want to talk, I suppose that's fine. Follow me."

They followed.

I needed a break anyway.

We sat down in a small conference room next to the courtroom. Golden walls, silver floor and ceiling, several details 'chiseled' into the surfaces. In the middle of the room was a fairly large round table, on it a small bow with snacks. They took their seats opposite of me.

„Alright, what could be so important that you disrupt a trial for it?"

„Well, Taylor here kinda 'stranded' here in Gensokyo, just showed up on my doorstep, really. She brought quite the 'baggage' with her, too.", the witch, Kirisame Marisa, informed me, lacking her usual cheery behaviour.

I turned to 'Taylor': „And I am supposed to help with that? So you want me to send you back?"

She looked depressed: „Well, I sort of got dragged here... I'm here to tell you about certain... 'crimes' I witnessed, and of the world I come from."

Another world... that might be interesting.

„Well, I guess I should begin with the most important recent event: the emerging of Scion..."

And so she told me about her world. Of superpowered capes, supervillains and -heroes, the protectorate, the PRT, the Wards, the Endbringers, the Triumvirate and the different Earths.

„So, the Endbringers are the evil monsters that destroy cities and the Triumvirs are their counterpart who try to repell them, together with as many capes as possible?", I asked.

„Yes, and if they aren't succesfull in driving the Endbringer off it is left to Scion, who handles them like unruly animals.", Taylor responded.

„Alright, and what else did you want to tell me?", we needed to come to the end of the discussion, the spirits were waiting and this talk already took us an hour.

„Yeah, well, Taylor wanted to talk to you about some of her issues and what you'd recommend!", Marisa, who had been surprisingly quiet during the stories of Earth Bet, spoke up: ''Right Taylor, ze?"

''...Yes. I should probably begin at the beginning of those problems, shouldn't I?", when I nodded in confirmation, she continued: ''Alright, it started after the summer camp in the big break before I would begin my highschool life... my friend Emma, my only friend, decided that she wanted a new friend and cast me away. As if that wasn't enough, they tortured me very day... day in day out!", she was beginning to shed hot tears of fury and despair, ''they decided I should be their permanent victim, filled my locker with disgusting thing, put juice over me and in my bag, stole my mother's flute... The only piece that remained of her! All that just to make me cry, to make my life miserable. They threw insults at me, stole my homework and just did everything they could. Once they got a 'new member' I wasn't safe anywhere. And the school faculty never did _anything_!", her face was red by now, her cheeks wet.

''Why would nobody do anything? Isn't it the schools job to make sure the pupils have a safe environment?", my grip around the Rod had increased in strength and intensity, ''Shurely they must have done _something_."

She continued: ''No! Nothing! My tormentors were the 'queens of the school'. The trackstar, the 'too-cute-to-do-anyone-harm'-girl and the aspiring model. Nobody would listen to a loser like me over them... and there were always no witnesses nobody had the courage to speak up...",she got quieter towards the end, ''All that thankfully ended with the locker..."

Seeing my questioning look she continued with a sad smile: ''They filled my locker with used tampons, bloody hygiene products, shoved me in and left me there to rot. Thankfully I escaped by being transported here, to Gensokyo. I don't even want to go back anymore! But I can't just stay here while my dad is worrying himself sick!", she cried out.

''Then what's the problem? You could get your dad and stay here with him. You'd need the permission of that border-youkai, of course, but I'm sure I can persuade her", I told her. She seemed to calm down.

''But there's another matter... why would nobody ever do something. I'm sure the teachers noticed them bullying you. There has to be something else."

''Yes... it's Emma's dad. They aren't doing anything because of him. He's a famous lawye-" **CRACK**

I stood up, the remains of my Rod in my one hand, the other clenched to a fist.

''Excuse me, please.", my voice was shaking with suppressed rage, ''I'll go get a new Rod. I believe you told me enough and you should probably go.", I didn't wait for them to respond and just walked out of the room. I was furious and needed to talk to Yukari about immigrations to Gensokyo... and something else.

_**A/N: So, here comes the first interlude. I hope I've portrayed miss Yamaxanadu accurately. If not, I'll probably improve this chapter later, anyways. And thats to the guest 'TJG' for the idea... I think I'll implement it one way or the other.**_

_**-Azralan**_


	7. Gensokyo 6

_**Gensokyo 1.5**_

**Shortly after the conversation with the Yama**

''Wow... This was the first time I've seen her _that_ angry.", my witch friend remarked.

Marisa was right, the Yama looked furious.

''Well... I suppose I would be furious, too, if I was basically an embodiment of justice and found out about a lawyer, somebody who should fight _for_ justice, doing something like Alan Barnes did. It's not something a lawyer should do... But I guess many would do it for their daughter. So the problem may actually be that evil bitch called Emma.", I informed her of my opinion.

Oh well, no reason to dwell too much on it. _What to do now..._

My witch-friend answered that for me: ''Hey, it's barely noon! How about we have a look at some books? I'm sure Patchy'll let us borrow some, ze!"

_Yeah... 'borrow'._

And with that we took flight with our brooms.

**...**

Some time later we we're flying over the treetops, the sun shining above us in it's full winter-y glory. Then something pink-ish flew me in the face.

''Oh... What the-", _a cherry petal? What is that doing here. I thought it's winter... and why is it flying around like that?_, ''Marisa... is it normal for cherry petals to be this high up during the winter?"

''What do you mean, ze? What cherry peta- **pffft**", she blew away the petal that flew into her grinning mouth,''Uh... That cherry petal?"

We looked around.

And then we noticed.

The air was filled with flying cherry petals, all heading upwards.

''I... I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure physics don't behave like that. Does that mean..."

''Yep! It definitely does! Are you ready? This will be it, you know...", I knew her next words would have to come sooner or later, ''This will be your first incident, da ze! Come on, let's see if Reimu's already noticed."

And with that she took off. All I could do was follow.

→ **[Hakurei Shrine] ← **

Apparently... Reimu didn't care at all.

''I'm telling you, this will be fun, ze!", Marisa insisted, ''This is a incident. That means free tea afterwards. And a party! Everybody likes a´parties, da ze!"

''I totally agree. Parties provide a reason to drink sake, and sake makes parties even better!", the resident Oni gave her opinion.

''Do what you want. I'm going to stay inside in the comforting warmth of the shrine.", Reimu was stubborn.

_Man... She's really lazy. I understand her reasoning but if this really is an incident, it certainly will be something big, something you just shouldn't ignore._

Since it didn't look like the conversation would end with Reimu going out to investigate, I decided to simply empty my cup of tea and leave afterwards.

''Fine. If you'd rather laze around all day then do that. We'll be going investigate and have fun. We'll save the Spring, da ze!", Marisa stormed off, taking her broom.

I said my goodbyes and followed her out into the old.

_Yes. This is going to be interesting..._

_**A/N: It's time for the author's note, hooray. Terribly sorry for not updating this one for so long. After I started Portus I just kinda stuck with it because I like it so much. And I had so much to do with all the exams, events, my birthday and other things. So... this is the last chapter of the Gensokyo Arc. Touhou fans will surely recognize what's going to be up next, although I didn't follow the order of the games, as one can see when looking at the Shikieiki interlude or the fat that Suika is already present.**_

_**Now then, have a wonderful day.**_


End file.
